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Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Wednesday, July 31, 2013

The city of
Santee has taken a proactive approach with transients who set up illegal camp
sites along the San Diego River and other greenbelt areas.

While
efforts are made to connect the homeless to food, shelter and social services,
the city actively discourages people from living permanently in the riverbed.

Transient encampments
cause a host of problems, including increased risk of wildfires, pollution of
the river from human sewage and garbage, and the perception that the community
is not safe.

Sweeps Conducted Every Two Months

Deputies
from the San Diego Sheriff’s Dept. conduct sweeps of the riverbed approximately
every two months to locate illegal camp sites and tag them with eviction
notices.

“We give
them notice that they are trespassing and allow them seven to 10 days to vacate
and remove their property,” said Deputy Mark Snelling with the Community
Oriented Policing Unit. “If they are present when the deputies are tagging the
camp sites, we can cite them for illegal camping.”

When
deputies return a few weeks after the initial sweep, anyone found living at the
tagged camp sites can be arrested for trespassing.

“Sometimes
they move and sometimes they don’t,” Snelling said.

43 Citations Issued in First Half of
2013

In the first
six months of 2013, the sheriff’s deputies in Santee issued 43 citations for
illegal camping.

After
deputies have issued the illegal camping citations, the Santee City Attorney’s
office pursues the charges by appearing in court to prosecute the illegal
camping and related offenses.

“This
enforcement mechanism is an effective way to address issues of local concern
and is a vital part of an overall strategy to ensure the high quality of life
enjoyed by Santee’s citizens,” said City Manager Keith Till. “We strive to
address conditions detrimental to public health and safety by actively
enforcing the municipal code though the criminal prosecution of code
violations.”

In addition
to prosecuting illegal camping citations, the city’s attorneys obtain “stay
away” orders prohibiting transients and chronic campers from returning to the
riverbed in Santee. Judges have the
discretion to ban repeat offenders from re-establishing camp sites in same
geographic area as a condition of suspending a fine or a jail sentence.

In addition
to legal services, the city also incurs costs to have public service staffers clean
up the camp sites in the riverbed after the transients have left.

“It’s very
labor intensive, basically all hand work with pickup sticks and trash bags”
said Public Services Supervisor Sam Rensberry, who cleans up the sites with help
from another staff member.

To comply
with recent court rulings, the city takes any personal property left behind by
illegal campers to the public services headquarters.If it is not claimed in 90 days, the property
is thrown away.

Transient Population Difficult to
Estimate

It’s
difficult to estimate the number of people camping in the riverbed at any given
time because the population is constantly in flux, said Deputy Snelling.

Volunteers
with the Regional Task Force on the Homeless inspected Santee in January and
tallied 18 people living unsheltered or in their cars. However, at least one
local official estimated there may be 30 to 35 people illegally camping in the
riparian area along the river.

A survey in
April 2013 by the San Diego River Park Foundation identified 160 active encampments
along 30 miles of the San Diego River from the El Capitan Reservoir to the
Pacific Ocean.

Authorities
say the population of illegal campers generally falls within three categories:
Chronic homeless who do have local families or connections; transients who hopscotch
from city to city; and alcoholics and drug addicts who can be as young as
teenagers.

Most Do Not Have Violent History

“Most of the
people camping in the river bottom have alcohol and drug dependency issues, but
for the most part they do not have a violent history,” Snelling said.“There is a criminal element that lives out
there, but it’s a minor percentage.”

Transients camping along the river are
themselves at risk. They can be swept away by flash floods. Their living conditions
are basically unsanitary. They are also vulnerable to being assaulted.

“There has
been more violent crime committed against the homeless than they have perpetrated
themselves,” Snelling said.

The San
Diego River Park Foundation, a nonprofit conservation group, has been
documenting the effects of homeless encampments along the San Diego River for
more than a decade.

Rob Hutsel,
the foundation’s founder and executive director, said the encampments have been
found to be a “significant source” of pollution to the river.The foundation’s most recent survey estimated
that transient camps along the river account for 35 percent of the trash sites
and 71 percent of the trash volume by weight.

“Over the
years, our volunteers have come across significant numbers of hypodermic
needles, latrine sites and other public health issues, and numerous fires have
been started where people are living along the river,” said Hutsel. “We want to
get people the assistance they need so they aren’t living in this condition.”